THE CHALLENGE
Hyatt Regency Dallas' famous neighbor, Dallas landmark Reunion Tower launched their Streaming Lights New Year's Eve fireworks show in 2016. Because it was their first year, Hyatt Regency Dallas did not play a major role in the planning despite a close relationship with the Tower because of their shared ownership. The hotel did not run a New Year's Eve rooms package, so there was not any particularly special NYE guest experience. Additionally, a note about road closures in Reunion Tower's press release led to cancellations due to confusion about whether the hotel would be open or accessible. As a result, occupancy on New Year's Eve 2016 was a disappointing 69.3%.
THE STRATEGY
We approached NYE 2017 with the goal of increasing occupancy & maximizing revenue. In order to leverage being the closest hotel to the fireworks show, we knew we wanted to offer a NYE package that would drive incremental revenue as well as guest experience. We also wanted to focus on driving on-site food & beverage (F&B) revenue at our on-site restaurants.
To do this, we focused on improving our partnership with Reunion Tower so that we would be closely aligned in our communications plans. Additionally, we wanted to tap into opportunities with Wolfgang Puck, who hosted popular NYE parties at the restaurants inside the Tower. Due to limited budget, our strategy was to lean on owned & social media channels, as well as on-site communications, to get our message out.
THE CAMPAIGN
For NYE 2017, we created a robust NYE rooms package, which included access to fireworks viewing area, a bottle of champagne, a souvenir blanket, New Year’s Day brunch for 2 & late check-out. We put a lot of effort into improving our partnership with Reunion Tower, with joint monthly planning meetings with their marketing & PR team beginning in July. Because of this close relationship, we could ensure that our NYE package & restaurant offerings were included in all of the Tower's communications, including their dedicated NYE microsite, their newsletters & social media. Additionally, the package & information about hotel availability was clearly featured in the Tower's press release, so we could avoid the communications confusion from the previous year. We also worked closely with Wolfgang Puck to include information about our NYE package on their website & in their eblasts about their NYE parties.
From our partnership with Reunion Tower, we also developed a relationship with their media partner Nexstar, who was broadcasting the fireworks show to regional markets. We worked with them to develop a NYE Experience promotion. Nexstar purchased 13 rooms with the NYE package & gave them away on TV stations in drive markets such as Lubbock, Amarillo & Shreveport, in the process promoting both the fireworks show & our hotel availability.
We began an aggressive online campaign to promote the NYE package, including paid social ads in early December. We also promoted on-site with ads in the hotel elevators, on the hotel-owned channels on guest room TVs & on digital monitors throughout the hotel. To ensure a smooth guest experience, we distributed a pre-arrival email to all guests checking in with information about the fireworks show, as well as promoting NYE specials at our restaurants. Guests also received a flyer with the same information at check-in. On-site signs & digital monitors switched to ads promoting our restaurants on New Year's Eve, including ads for our New Year's Day brunch.
THE RESULTS
2017 was a much more successful New Year's Eve for Hyatt Regency Dallas. We achieved 93% occupancy, a 24% increase over 2016. 83% of rooms were from the transient segment, which is unusual for our hotel that relies on 80% group business. We sold 152 NYE packages, resulting in more than $50,000 in revenue.
Our partnerships were extremely successful, with the Reunion Tower website, Wolfgang Puck Eventbrite & Reunion Tower newsletter as the top three trackable drivers of revenue through Hyatt.com, accounting for 103 room nights & nearly $30,000 in revenue. This joint project also improved our overall relationship with both the Tower & Wolfgang Puck, opening up other partnership opportunities throughout the year.
Our restaurants reported a consistently busy night, with all NYE specials selling out. F&B drove $56,000 in sales, a 68% increase over 2016. New Year's Day brunch drove another $13,000 in sales, a 233% increase over the previous year.
Even our media giveaway with Nexstar yielded additional benefits--Nexstar reached out later in the year & ultimately held several conferences at the hotel, driving additional revenue.